Japanese Painted Fern – Georama’s Plant of the Week

October 25, 2014 Case Garden Centre

Common Name: Japanese Painted Fern
Botanical Name: Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’

This low-maintenanc e perennial is one of the showiest ferns for shade gardens. Japanese painted fern performs best in well-drained moist soil with added organic compost or peat moss. It grows 18 inches tall and as it multiplies can make a clump more the two feet wide. This fern produces 12-to-18 inch fronds that are a soft shade of metallic silver-grey with hints of red and blue and makes an outstanding combination plant for adding colour, texture, and habit to landscape beds and containers. The magnificent texture and colour of the fronds electrify shady areas of the garden and make the fern a wonderful companion for a variety of shade plants. Japanese painted fern provides a nice contrast to other shade-loving perennials such as hosta, bleeding heart, columbine, astilbe and coral bells. No Kootenay garden should be with-out this superb plant which won the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year Award!